Welcome to Grinnell's Global Intellectual Community
Dear students, faculty, and staff,
Welcome and welcome back! It’s fantastic to be surrounded by the excitement of new student and faculty orientation. I love meeting you on campus and in town, learning about what you have been doing during the summer months, and sharing your joy for living, learning, and working here!
Earlier this month, I traveled to China and Japan to meet with alums and affirm academic partnerships. I was welcomed by a wonderful group of current students and alumni who forged immediate connections with incoming first year students as they shared their experiences and aspirations. Now, we welcome these students as part of the Class of 2030, joining us from 42 states and 30 countries around the world. These new Grinnellians amplify a community made up of smart, talented individuals from 48 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, in addition to 67 countries from Azerbaijan and ending with Zimbabwe. We are glad you are here!
Our return to being in community provides the opportunity to celebrate the national and international recognition of faculty and staff through competitive grants. Kristen Bursonhas received $300,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation to work with Brookhaven National Lab to advance research into a new approach for separating noble gases, with potential applications in energy production, medicine, scientific research, and industry. Craig Quintero, professor of theatre, dance, and performance studies, and Nicky Tavares, assistant professor of studio art, digital studies, and film and media studies have received $600,000 over four years from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to expand the integration of technology throughout the College's arts curricula while creating new opportunities for collaboration, creative exploration, and interdisciplinary learning.
Andrea Hall, assistant professor of economics; Logan Lee, associate professor of economics; Tamara McGavock, associate professor of economics; and Karla Erickson, Rosenfield Professor of Social Studies and professor of sociology have received a $311,000 grant from the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation to lead a collaborative research study examining the impact of emergency rental assistance on low-income households across Central Iowa.
And last week, Debdeep Bhattacharya, assistant professor of mathematics, has been awarded a three-year, $250,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop theory and numerical methods for computing solutions to the fracture initial value problem, which describes how cracks start and grow in material over time.
The intellectual breadth and depth at Grinnell fuels inquiry that encourages curiosity in unexpected ways. This summer, students followed their ideas to learn how games can teach us about culture-building, follow the origins of “cool”, consider how humans can continue thinking deeply alongside AI, and many other mentored research projects. As they do each fall, Grinnell faculty bring intellectual joy to the in-depth exploration and deeply creative approaches to tutorial topics that span the spectrum of human inquiry. Whether you’re curious about barbecue or how humans measure time, there’s someone else at Grinnell who will join you in thinking about it.
I warmly invite you back into community and co-creation at the fourth annual Grinnell College Colloquium in HSSC Auditorium on Wednesday, August 26 covering the Finances of the College (10 a.m.), Grinnell College in the Age of Generative AI (1 p.m.), Declarations of Independence (2 p.m.), plus a bonus session on Evolving the Honor G (3 p.m.). On Sept. 3, everyone is invited to the first Scholars’ Convocation of the year from 11 a.m. – noon in JRC Room 101. Jerry Seaman and I will present “A Once and Future Grinnell: Connecting Strategy, Brand, and the ‘Work Worth Doing’".
Every one of you is doing worthwhile work and I look forward to all that we will accomplish together this year. Thank you for your presence and for what each of you brings to our global and gifted community of Grinnellians.
In anticipation,
Anne F. Harris
President